To Journey Into The Dark
by Xerxes93
Summary: Hinata relied on Naruto's smile more than she could say. So when it faded due to Sasuke joining the sound, she decided to join too and protect him. Even though she didn't like Sasuke, even though she didn't even really care about Sasuke, she would go through this hell to save him.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto had left the village earlier that week. Hinata had, of course, bid him goodbye and wished him well in his training. She recalled the smile he gave her as he said thanks, and in turn wished her well. It wasn't the same as it had been before Sasuke had left. The change was subtle, but made all the difference. Hinata had never seen Naruto look so downhearted in the entire time she knew him.

The whole of their village hating him his entire life, failing the graduation exam three times, the threat of being a genin forever, these things had never managed to make Naruto give in to despair. But Sasuke might succeed where they had failed. Hinata finished writing the note she had been pondering over for the past hour. Giving it one last look over and finding it satisfactory, she folded it into thirds and placed in on the pillow of her neatly made bed.

Hinata had considered packing, but it would be too suspicious if any of her possessions were missing. She had managed to smuggle some food which she had it placed in her pouch with her kunai and shuriken. Sneaking out wouldn't be necessary, she had decided. Hinata left her room, and made her way out of the house. She passed a branch member on the way out of the house. "Up and about so early, Hinata?" she asked cheerily as she walked by.

"U-um, yes, I was hoping to get in some early morning training." Hinata answered and with a small bow their way she continued on. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, the light blue sky in contrast with the shadow still cast over the village was strangely calming to Hinata. Vendors were setting up shop as she passed. It was just another day for them, but it wasn't for her. Not with the truly stupid thing she was about to do hanging over her head. She reached the village gate, and with a deep breath, exited the village. Her journey required her to go very far to the south, but first she needed to go north. With her Byakugan now activated, Hinata picked up the pace and began to jump from tree to tree.

She was nearing her initial destination when she felt a clench in her chest. Stopping on a tree branch quite abruptly she began to cough up blood into her hand. Since the final round of chunin exams and invasion of the Sound the heart issues caused by her cousin had been acting up significantly less often, but it still presented itself from time to time. For once Hinata was grateful for it. She placed her blood covered hand against the tree, leaving a smear, and continued on. The scent of the blood would help send the people who would be searching for her in the direction she wanted them to go, and not the direction she was actually headed.

Hinata finally reached her destination, the sun was now shining bright in the sky and it made the water in the river below her sparkle. Hinata looked over the edge of the cliff as she shed off her jacket, ruminating on the action she was about to take. She placed her folded jacket gently at her feet, and as a finishing touch, took off the headband on her neck and put it on top. Nobody would realize she was gone for at least 24 hours, when she was supposed to meet up with her team for a mission. When she wouldn't arrive, they would look for her, then they would find the note she left in her room. Lead by the scent of the blood she had left on the tree and her jacket they would find this place. And they would know it was too late to save her, that she had already killed herself, or so they would think.

Hinata took a deep breath and jumped over the edge. The water was cold, but it would serve its purpose in washing away her sent. Sending chakara to the bottom of her feet, Hinata rose from the water and stood on top of it. She would make her way south on the river's surface for a few miles, then run along the bank once she began to run low on chakara. It was a long journey ahead of her, so she began running.

The sun had set and risen again by the time Hinata reached her destination. The Sound compound, slightly beyond the Valley of the End, and outside of her home country; where even if the ninja now investigating her disappearance realized that she had faked her death, couldn't breach enemy territory to retrieve her.

Activating her byakugan again, Hinata found the entrance to the compound. There were no guards, most likely because the entrance itself was so well hidden. They weren't counting on someone with her eyes trying to get in. Their mistake was her gain as she entered undetected. She snuck along the dark, stone halls, byakugan activated scanning the area around her for target. And then she saw him farther into the labyrinth of tunnels, there were a lot of other people walking around the compound and she would have to avoid all of them if she wanted to make it there without getting caught.

It was easier than it initially seemed it would be. There were so many different hallways to take, all intersecting in a random, unorganized matter making it so that Hinata was easily able to avoid the people in the compound. Most of them weren't even in the hallways anyway. She just had to pass by the rooms they were in quickly, desperately hoping that they didn't decide to leave just then. Twice she had to double back into a hallway that was counterintuitive to where she wanted to go in order to avoid someone, but within 20 minutes she had reached her destination. On the other side of the door she was now standing in front of her goal awaited her. Deactivating her byakugan, Hinata took a deep breath, and opened it.

* * *

Sasuke was panting as he kneeled on the cold, stone floor, he had been training for what seemed like hours, though he could not be sure because there was no way for him to tell the time. That was the worst thing about staying in Orochimaru's underground fortress, time was lost to him without access to a clock or windows. Sasuke may have been here for days, he may have been here for weeks, but he couldn't know for sure. What he did know, though was that he was getting stronger. Without stupid missions or the mundanities of life in Kohona to get in the way, Sasuke was able to focus completely on his training.

"That's enough for now," Orochimaru told him as Sasuke picked himself up off the ground, "Go rest and have some lunch and we'll meet here-" Orochimaru stopped mid-sentence. Sasuke was confused as to why for a moment until he noticed that Orochimaru was looking at the door where a girl about his age had just entered. There was an air of familiarity about her, but he couldn't place from where he knew her. "Who are you?" Orochimaru asked, a tone of amusement about his voice.

"M-my name is Hyuga Hinata," the girl announced as she walked towards them, her stride significantly more confident than her voice. Hyuga? So she must be from Kohona then, he must have occasionally seen her around which is why she seemed familiar now.

"And what are you doing here, Hinata-chan?" Orochimaru asked in a condescending tone. "Are you here to try and take Sasuke back?"

"N-no," She said, and with a sudden improvement in poise and clenched fists she stated "I'm here to join the Sound. You offered Sasuke strength and I want that too." Sasuke could see a fire of determination in her eyes, and it seemed quite unfitting for her. That thought caused him to remember how he knew her, she was in his class at the academy! And she was also one of the nine of his class to become genin. Sasuke had known her for years! But she was so shy that she had never left an impression on him.

Orochimaru gave her a sinister, toothy smile "Oh? And why should I train you? What are you worth to me, girl?"

It was Hinata's turn to smile, "I've read up on you, Orochimaru-sama. You killed and experimented on a lot of my clansmen. But you didn't find out anything about the Byakugan, did you?" Orochimaru's smile faltered for a split second, "That's because they were members of the Branch house. And as w-with every member of the branch house they were all marked with the caged bird seal, which seals away the Byakugan's secrets upon death. I-I, however-" Hinata lifted up her bangs to show her unmarked forehead, "-am a member of the main house, and do not bear the curse seal. I offer you not only my eyes, but m-myself as a willing test subject to explore the Byakugan's potential with."

Orochimaru walked over to Hinata and leaned in close to Hinata's face. Orochimaru reached his hand out towards her face and she flinched. Sasuke realized he was examining her eyes, which were now full of fear, as he stretched her eye socket for a better look at them.

"So tell me Hinata-chan, why?" Orochimaru asked as he pulled away from her face, apparently satisfied.

"H-huh?" Hinata looked perplexed, "I-I don't understand what you mean."

"I _mean_," Orochimaru hissed as he grasped her wrist, a malicious look in his eyes, "Why are you seeking power from me. What are you hoping to gain from it?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it!" Hinata pleaded as she tried to pull away from him. But in one swift turn, Orochimaru put Hinata in an armbar and forced her to her knees. Hand still on her wrist, he put his foot on the elbow of Hinata's forcefully straightened arm. Sasuke knew it wouldn't take a lot of pressure for him to break it.

"That's not good enough. Tell me!" Hinata let out a yelp and Sasuke knew Orochimaru had just fractured her arm, if he continued, the joint would be broken altogether. Sasuke almost felt sorry for her, it must hurt.

"It's because my family thinks I'm a failure, okay!?" Hinata cried, facing the ground, "Because I'm supposed to be the Hyuga heir but my fathers given the title to my seven year old sister instead! Because my cousin who is a branch member and is supposed to serve me humiliated and nearly killed me in the chunin exams! _I want them to make them regret it!_" with that final scream, Orochimaru let her arm free and Hinata picked herself up, cradling her injured arm.

"Well then," Orochimaru smirked, "I guess I will train you then. But first you'll have to survive this." He made the same hand seal he did back in the forest of death, and his neck stretching out, he planted his teeth in Hinata's neck. As he pulled back, Hinata let out a scream; clutching her neck with her uninjured arm she fell to her knees. Sasuke knew the pain she was in, he felt like he was reliving that moment over again as he watched her writhe on the ground. Her screaming suddenly stopped and Sasuke saw blood drip to the floor off her chin. Hinata had bit through her lip to stop her cries.

"Come, Sasuke, you must be starving." Orochimaru called from the door, ushering him out. "I'll have Kabuto take her to the infirmary before we start up practice again." And so Sasuke left the room, Hinata's echoed whimpers sending a shiver down his spine.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a girl in the distance. Hinata walked towards her in the white void. She was hunched over and crying. As Hinata grew closer it dawned upon her that the girl was her. Hinata could hear the younger version of herself saying something, she drew closer to find out what.

"Failure..." she gasped between a sob was what Hinata was first able to hear clearly.

"W-what?" Hinata responded. Even though Hinata knew deep down what she was talking about, she still entertained the possibility that maybe this shadow of her past self was talking about something different. A different possibility to her bitter reality.

"I-I'm a failure." She sobbed, her face now hidden in her hands, "Everyone thinks so, e-even, father. I-I'm not g-good enough to be a Hyuga!" Hinata kneeled down to the girl's level and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I need to be stronger!"

"I know." Hinata replied, "I don't ever g-give up, and you won't either, because that is our ninja way. We _will_ get stronger."

"T-that's not our ninja way, it's _his_." her voice became a hiss, "And he is _weak_. How great of an example can _he_ be when someone as pathetic as Sasuke was enough to make him go back on his way?!"

Hinata recoiled, the girl had put her hands down from her face, revealing a right eye that was not her own. With a pupil thin and expression malicious. It was Orochimaru's. "I-I wont give up! And neither will he! I-I'll make sure of it!" she yelled at the thing before her.

"Then you'll need to be strong." it told her. "You'll need my power."

"Fine."

* * *

Hinata's eyes opened to the unpleasant greeting of a bright light directly above her. She squinted and sat up. There was steam surrounding her, where was it coming from? Her lower lip felt swollen, she raised her hand and felt it, her touch emitted soft prickles.

"I put some healing balm on your lip, but it's such an awkward area there wasn't much else I could do. You bit straight through it." Hinata looked over to the person speaking, and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Kabuto."

"You remember me, I'm glad." he said, walking over and handing her a glass of water, "Here, you're probably thirsty."

She was, parched actually, but she took small sips as she gathered in her surroundings. It must be a lab or medical room, but she had never seen one with such oddities in it. Jars on the wall full of various body parts, human and animal, and things that weren't either. She herself had been laying on a stone slab, which must be an examination table. The walls and floor were stone, meaning she was still in the hideout. The room wasn't the only odd thing, though, Hinata felt different. There was a power surging through her veins and it wasn't her own.

"How's your heart doing?"

"H-huh?"

"During the chunin exams final you went into cardiac arrest, you coughed up blood and needed medical attention."

"H-how did you kn- oh! Y-you were the ANBU who healed me!?"

"You catch on quickly, don't you?" he smirked, "So how is your heart? I don't think I did my best work healing it. Is it still acting up?"

"Y-yeah, it is."

"Let me take a look at it." and without proper warning, Kabuto slid his hand under the back of her shirt and placed it between her shoulder blades. It was cold, and sent shivers down her spine. "Now take a deep breath in."

* * *

It had been a week since Hinata has appeared at the fortress, Sasuke had not seen her since. He wondered in the back of his mind if she had died as he practiced using the bamboo sword Orochimaru had given him. _I don't care about her though_, he reminded himself, _she's just some stupid girl_.

But she _wasn't_ just some stupid girl, and Sasuke knew that. He swung again hitting the target with a mighty _thwack_. He had been contemplating on what she said 'I want to make them regret it!' How? _Thwack. _How was she going to do that? _Thwack. _Would she slaughter her clansmen? _Thwack. _Like Itachi? Sasuke swung too hard and was thrown off balance once the practice sword made contact with it's target. Moving his feet back into the proper position, he began again.

Even if that was what she was going to do, what did it matter to him? _Thwack. _The Hyugas weren't his clan, _thwack _what did it matter to him if they were killed? _Thwack. _She had a younger sister. _Thwack. _She was probably about them same age he was when- _thwack. _It didn't matter to him. _Thwack. _Hinata was probably dead anyway. _Thwack._

'I want to make them regret it!'

_Thwack._

'I want to make them regret it!'

_Thwack._

'I want to make them regret it!'

_TWACK!_

The practice sword broke, large splinters flying everywhere, one of them found its way into his right hand, "Arg!" he yelled, more out of frustration then pain. Blood gushed from the wound, covering his hand in the thick red liquid.

"Well that's no good." Orochimaru cooed as he came up to Sasuke and looked at his hand. "Go to the medical bay and have Kabuto patch that up. We're done for today."

Sasuke scowled, he had been only been practicing for a few hours. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. How was he supposed to get strong enough to kill Itachi if he was wasting his time learning the basics of using a sword? He needed to learn powerful jutsus, not this.

He entered the medical bay "Hey, Kabuto, I need my hand bandaged." but after a second realized Kabuto wasn't there, but someone else was. Laying in one of the beds was Hinata.

"Oh, Sasuke," she said, in what seemed to be a simple acknowledgment of his presence. "Hello."

So she was alive. He didn't have time to chat with her, he was getting blood on the floor, "Where's Kabuto?"

"He's in the lab next door, he said he c-can't be disturbed." Hinata sat up, and Sasuke realized with a tinge of embarrassment, that she wasn't wearing a shirt, just bandages covering her torso. "I could b-bandage that up for you if you need help."

"Sure." Sasuke said, focusing his eyes solely on her face. Hinata winced as she stood up from the bed, "What happened?" _Why am I asking? I don't care_.

"I'm recovering from surgery," she told him as she reached into a cabinet for the bandages, "I've been having issues with my heart since the chu-chunin exams." She sat down on a stool across from Sasuke, "Hand."

Sasuke outstretched his hand and Hinata gently took it, she pulled out the splinters of wood embedded in his skin. The silence between them as she disinfected his hand was heavy, and he felt a pressure to break it. "How are you going to do it?"

"Bandage your hand?"

"No, take revenge on your family."

"Oh." Hinata unrolled a length of gauze and cut it. She then placed a piece of padded gauze over Sasuke's wound and rolled the gauze over it.

"Well?" Sasuke asked irritably as Hinata taped the gauze shut. "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"No." Hinata stood up and turned back towards her bed, Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Why not?" he demanded, Hinata turned back towards him, her eyes gave him a cold glare, Orochimaru's curse mark spreading across her face. He tightened his grip on her.

"It's not your business." Hinata circled her arm around in a wide sweeping motion, twisting Sasuke's arm and forcing him to let go of her, "Just as what you're after isn't any of mine."

"Do you want to know?" Hinata's curse mark began to recede. "I could tell you." _What are you doing, idiot? She doesn't need to know!_

He and Hinata made eye contact, she was quick to break it, a blush encroaching on her cheeks. "I don't care." she hissed softly, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to rest." She gestured towards the door, and Sasuke stomped out in a mixture of embarrassment and rage, slamming the door behind her.

What an annoying girl! What was she planning that she felt wasn't any of his business, even when he offered to tell her his plans! She probably _was_ planning on killing her clan! He wasn't going to waste his time on someone like her!

Still, a thought crept into the back of his head and would not leave. _She's kinda pretty_.

* * *

**And chapter 2 is done! Thank you guys for all the follows, faves, and comments! If you have any questions you want me to answer, take it to my tumblr (linked on my profile page) and I'll hopefully have a new chapter out in a week or so! **


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a month since Hinata had arrived at the Sound. Now fully recovered from her surgery, Hinata had started joining Orochimaru's training sessions with Sasuke. She and Sasuke had not spoken since their encounter in the medical bay. The most interaction the two of them had had were greeting nods of acknowledgment when they were in the same room. Hinata preferred it this way. Though she was there purely to make sure of his wellbeing, she did not like Sasuke in the least, the last thing she wanted to be with him was friends.

Hinata pulled back the string of the bow in her hands, trying to get the arrow in place. The string slipped from her fingers and snapped back towards the bow, hitting her arm in the process. She let out a small curse. Weapons weren't her forte, and she had never used a bow and arrow. Orochimaru had insisted she learned how to use one though, saying that the Byakugan's range of vision would be advantageous in long distance fighting. He was right, of course, but Hinata knew it came at great risk, as that one degree of blind spot was much more significant when looking for things at a distance as opposed to the close-range combat her clan was so insistent on using.

"Having trouble?" Orochimaru asked from her side. Hinata jumped in surprise, she had been too preoccupied with the bow an arrow to notice him standing there.

"It-it's nothing I can't get with practice." Hinata muttered, desperately trying to re-gain her composure. She lifted up the bow and tried again. The arrow hit the edge of its target, which was a significant improvement to the other attempts she had made in the last few hours.

"Well you'll need to practice more then." Orochimaru told her, looking at the arrows scattered across the back wall. "But I'm going to need you to stop for now, I want you and Sasuke to spar." On the other side of the room, Sasuke stopped practicing with his bamboo sword and looked over with a scowl. "Yes, Sasuke, you. Come on over here." Sasuke dropped his sword and walked over. "No weapons, no jutsus of any kind, and don't use your sharingan or byakugan. Hand to hand combat only. I'll tell you when to stop." Orochimaru took a few steps back. "Begin."

Sasuke made the first move, running towards Hinata and throwing a punch at her. Turning to her side, Hinata pushed his arm away from her, subsequently throwing Sasuke off balance. Without the byakugan, gentle-fist was useless, but the form of it was still good in close combat. Hinata would just need to use more speed and power than she was used to. Hinata balled up her fists as Sasuke ran in for another punch. Hinata dodged again, but this time was met with an accompanying kick hitting her left side. Falling over to the ground, Hinata realized Sasuke was about to kick her again. She managed to roll out of the way just in time, Sasuke's foot brushing her stomach. Rolling back up onto her feet, Hinata had to quickly block another punch from Sasuke and, knowing it was surly coming, another of his kicks.

This time expecting it, Hinata blocked Sasuke mid-kick, spinning him so he was no longer facing her. Taking advantage of this, she punched Sasuke in the side. She knew she hadn't put enough strength into it before it even hit. Sasuke barely flinched as she hit, and was now spinning back towards her, his arm outstretched aiming for- _the side of her head_. As a rushed reaction, Hinata ducked, and was met with a knee to the face.

Hinata heard a crunch, and she knew her nose must be broken. Blood was gushing down her face. Hinata wrapped her arms around Sasuke's leg, which was still in her face. She stood up and Sasuke fell on his back. With a hold still on his leg, there wasn't much Sasuke could do but flail his free leg around, trying to hit her again so he could get himself free. Realizing this wasn't going to work, Sasuke resigned to laying limply on the ground.

Hinata let go of his leg and outstretched her hand to him, offering to help him up. Glowering at her, he took her hand and began to get up. Giving his arm a yank, Hinata punched him in the jaw. _There, that was the power I needed_. She thought to herself as Sasuke fell back down onto the ground.

"You bitch!" Sasuke yelled, getting up his eyes now red with the Sharingan. He ran over towards her, fist at the ready.

Orochimaru was there before either of them realized what happen. His hand firmly placed on Sasuke's shoulder causing him to stop abruptly. "That's enough. I told you, no Sharingan, remember?" Sasuke turned to Orochimaru and opened his mouth looking as he was about to protest, but after a second seemed to decide against it. He shut his mouth and his eyes turned back to black. "That was a clever move, Hinata, using the force of pulling Sasuke up to increase the damage of your punch. But I suggest you go to the medical bay now, you're getting blood everywhere."

"Of course." Hinata replied, giving Orochimaru a bow and leaving the room. Her and Sasuke's eyes met as she left and he scowled at her. Hinata looked away. _I probably should apologize to him later,_ she thought to herself, _if he hates me, it'll make looking after him more difficult._ She let out a sigh as she wiped blood off her face with her sleeve. _What have I gotten myself into? _

* * *

Sasuke stared at the ceiling in rage. He had been trying to get some sleep, but his jaw kept throbbing in pain, and the pain had reminded him of how _she_ was the one to have cause it. Thoughts of Hinata and how angry she made him invaded his mind. She was more devious than he had remembered her at school. In fact, she didn't seem anything like the girl he vaguely remembered knowing. Her shy-girl demeanor from back then was clearly an act, which only made her seem more and more like _him_. _He_ had pretended to be a kind, gentle person, hiding _his_ true murderous nature. Hinata was probably just the same-

_I don't care about her though._ Sasuke abruptly reminded himself. _She can kill her family all she wants! I can't let her distract me from my own goals._ His jaw throbbed again and Hinata's face involuntarily flashed through his mind again. _Stop that!_

Sasuke's inner turmoil was interrupted by a knock on his door. Eager for a distraction from his own thoughts, he got up and opened it. He was displeased to see that the person knocking was none other than Hinata. A bandage was now over her nose, but not a big enough one to cover up the fact that her face was badly bruised. "What?" he growled at her. Their eyes met and Hinata quickly looked at the ground, her face becoming a flushed pink in the places where it wasn't purple.

"I-I, uh." She looked back up at Sasuke, "I'm s-sorry for v-visiting s-so late. I just w-wanted to apologize for-" She broke her gaze again, "Well, y-you know what. It was a d-dirty trick. I'm s-sorry."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say to her, after all, he had clearly dealt her more damage than she had to him. And it may have been a dirty move, but Orochimaru hadn't called off the spar, Sasuke had just assumed it was over, So it was his own fault he fell for it. Which is what had truly annoyed him about what she did. But he was much too stubborn to admit it. He let out a noncommittal "Hn."

"H-how's your jaw?" Hinata asked reaching out a hand to his face, examining it. "It looks p-pretty badly bruised."

_Like you're one to talk._ Sasuke thought to himself, "Hn. See you tomorrow," he told her, hoping she would take the hint and leave.

"Oh, uh, a-actually you wont." Hinata stammered, "I'm leaving in an h-hour or so for the North base w-with Kabuto. Th-thats why I'm here s-so late at night. I-I didn't want to leave with b-bad-"

"Stop it."

"H-huh?"

"Stop pretending to stutter!" Sasuke yelled at her, "I know you're not the shy girl you're pretending to be! What are you even doing here?! What is your fucking angle?!"

Hinata looked taken aback. "I... I, uh." she sputtered, Sasuke assumed this was because she was shocked that he had seen through her act. But then she did something he didn't expect.

She kissed him.

It was just a gentle peck on his lips, Hinata quickly pulled away after making contact. In the moment of Sasuke's shock and confusion, Hinata muttered "G-goodnight, Sasuke." and left. Still standing at the door, Sasuke felt his face heat up. Getting a grip on himself, Sasuke closed the door and went back to his bed.

Closing his eyes, he still found Hinata plaguing his thoughts and preventing him from falling asleep. But the nature of his thoughts were now very different.

* * *

Hinata had panicked. And in that moment of panic she had done something stupid. She hadn't expected Sasuke to suddenly question her like that. What had he even been going on about anyway, 'pretending to be shy'? But under the pressure of the moment she had assumed he had figured out that she was there to make sure he wasn't killed, and bring him back to Kohona if she had the chance. And under that assumption she had done something so so stupid in hopes of making him think otherwise.

_That was my first kiss,_ she lamented as she packed for the trip ahead of her. She rationalized to herself that it was better Sasuke thought she was just a fangirl that know the truth. But he hadn't been suspecting the truth, had he? Hinata was shy, she didn't fake her stutter, why did he think she did? _I don't need to worry about this right now, I wont see him again for months_.

Hinata finished packing her backpack and threw on her cloak. She was eager for this trip, she had not been outside since she had arrived at the Sound. Being without sun for long had been draining. She was also nervous, though. They would be traveling for two weeks, and if they ran into anyone from Kohona, she'd be recognized. If the Hyuga found out that she was alive, they'd stop at nothing to bring her back and protect the Byakugan's secrets, even if it meant going against the Hokage herself.

There was a knock at Hinata's door "Hinata, are you ready?" Kabuto said through the door.

"Um, yeah, j-just a second." Hinata slung her backpack over her shoulders and picked up the bow and quiver laying on her bedside table. Opening the door, she was greeted by Kabuto, also wearing a cloak. "Let's go." She said. And so they left the compound, disappearing into the dark night.

* * *

**Thanks for all the follows and faves! A special thanks to the person who sent me hate mail, that was the most motivating thing I have ever been sent, and reading it gave me a good laugh. If you like this fic, a review would be appreciated. And I'll have chapter 4 out in a week or so. **


	4. Chapter 4

After a month underground, Hinata had a newfound appreciation of the sunlight. Hinata had, in the past, spent most of her time covering up and avoiding it due to her delicate skin, but now she was trying to absorb as much sunlight as possible. Even while she and Kabuto crossed the dessert, she was reluctant to wear her cloak. By the end of their first week of travel Hinata had become badly sunburned. Kabuto had scolded her for being so reckless, but Hinata didn't care. If she was going to go back underground for an indefinite amount of time once they got to the north base, Hinata was going to savor what time with the sun she had left before doing so.

By the time she and Kabuto reached the north base, Hinata's sunburn had peeled away into a dark tan. Examining herself in the mirror Hinata barely recognized herself. Her hair had grown considerably in the six weeks since she had left home and was now much shaggier than the neat pixie cut she had kept it cut in for so long. In the two weeks since Sasuke had crushed it with his knee Hinata's nose had healed, but now it was flatter than it had used to be and it veered to the left side of her face. Hinata figured that the change in appearance was probably a good thing, the less recognizable she was the better. Her eyes were still a dead giveaway to her identity, however.

Hinata drew her attention away from her reflection to change for bed, she had only just arrived to the base and was exhausted from the day's traveling. After taking off her shirt, Hinata's fingers traced the scar on her chest. The surgery had been the best way to deal with her heart problem, or so Kabuto had told her. Having your chest cut open was the sort of thing that left scars that would never fully heal over. Hinata grabbed her night shirt and pulled it on. As she lay down on her bed there was a knock on the door. Jumping up to answer it, Hinata realized half-way to the door that she wasn't wearing pants, and rushed about in a panic to pull on the closest pair she could get her hands on.

"Um, yes?" Hinata gasped, as she swung open the door. A girl about her age with bright red hair and matching eyes was standing there. She wore thick-rimmed glasses, which she adjusted as she spoke.

"Kabuto wants to see you in his lab." she told her.

Hinata let out a small groan and took a wistful look back at her bed. "Now?"

"Yes, now c'mon, I have to show you where it is." she said, turning around and leading the way. Hinata reluctantly followed.

"So... uh..." Hinata began, looking at the back of the girl, whose uneven hair was swishing from side to side as she walked. "What's your name?"

The girl did not look Hinata's way, "Karin."

"I-I'm Hina-"

"I know your name already."

"Oh," Hinata muttered, she could feel her cheeks getting hot. "Wh-where are you from?"

"I'm from the Village Hidden in the Grass," Karin let out an annoyed sigh, "You?"

"Oh, uh, I'm from the Hidden Leaf Village."

Karin's demeanor suddenly changed, she stopped and looked at Hinata, a glimmer of interest in her eyes. "So, do you know Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yeah."

"Is it true he joined the Sound?"

"Yeah." to Hinata's dismay, Karin let out a squeal of joy. "Do you... like him?"

"Sasuke saved me once." Karin sighed, there was a twinkle of admiration in her eye, "He was so nice."

Hinata wondered if it was actually Sasuke Karin was talking about.

They continued on, Karin now interrogating Hinata for information about Sasuke. Unfortunately for Karin, Hinata didn't really know enough about Sasuke to answer her questions. Fortunately for Hinata, they soon reached their destination.

The lab at the base Hinata had been at before was nothing compared to the one she was in now. The room was huge, and filled with equipment Hinata had never seen before. On one wall was a library of scrolls and books, and on the opposite wall was a intimidating display of experiments and organs in jars. From across the room, Kabuto put down the journal he was writing in and walked over to them.

"I'm going back to my room," Karin told Kabuto as he came over.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you." Kabuto told her, Karin look irritated at this prospect, but didn't leave. "Here, have a cup of tea." Kabuto offered them, turning to the table nearest to them, and pouring out the tea from the teapot sitting on it into three cups. Hinata took the cup cautiously, a laboratory didn't seem like the most sanitary place to be making tea. It would be rude to reject Kabuto's polite gesture, however, so Hinata took a sip.

"I was wondering about your chakara sensing abilities," Kabuto began, "Such as how far your range is."

Before Hinata could answer, Karin began to speak. Hinata tried to listen, but she found herself having a hard time concentrating. A wave of exhaustion had swept over Hinata. Her eyelids grew heavy and it became an active effort for her to keep them open. A crashing sound brought Hinata back to attentiveness, and she saw that Karin had fallen to the ground, her cup of tea had shattered on the ground. _The tea! _Hinata thought and then everything went black.

* * *

It had been two months since Sasuke had last seen Hinata. Since she had, well, he tried not to think about it. He tried not to think about her at all. The events of their last meeting had made that somewhat difficult for Sasuke, but it helped that she wasn't there, actively reminding Sasuke of her existence. It was easier to forget her when he was training, but when he was done for the day, when he lay in bed, close to sleep, he was haunted by her unwelcome presence in his mind.

As the time since she had left passed, Sasuke's thoughts fell to Hinata less and less. What had been a subject he had thought of two or three times a day was now something he thought of maybe two or three times a week. But when he did think of her now it would trigger a physical reaction. Usually the feeling was in his chest and stomach, it was almost like something was fluttering in there. Exactly four times, however, the reaction had been... _lower_ on Sasuke's anatomy. Sasuke had been left angry and confused by this. Why was this happening to him? Why was she of all people the one to cause it? Why did he keep thinking about that kiss?

Sasuke was brought back to reality by the realization that someone was talking to him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" he grumbled.

"I _said_," Orochimaru hissed, "That we've arrived."

Sasuke and Orochimaru had spent the last week traveling to one of Orochimaru's fortresses. This one was to the east of the one he had been in previously. Orochimaru had told Sasuke that this one was much bigger than the one Sasuke had been spending his time at, and it was better protected. Sasuke was somewhat indifferent to this. All he wanted to do is get stronger, location was irrelevant to his goal. With the last week of travel, Sasuke's training had been limited, and he was itching to get back to it.

"Where's the training room?"

"Don't you want to go to your room first and drop off your stuff?"

"No."

"Alright then."

Orochimaru led Sasuke to the training room, it was much bigger than the one at the other base. At the other end of the room were two girls sparring. One of them had bright red hair and the other's hair was- Sasuke felt his stomach drop- dark blue. What was she doing here? Didn't she say she was headed to the north base?

"Well I'm headed to my quarters," Orochimaru told Sasuke, "If you need anything I'm sure one of them will show you around. Meet me here first thing tomorrow for our training." and with that he left, leaving Sasuke with the two girls, who had been too preoccupied to notice their presence.

Sasuke noticed that Hinata looked different, her back was to him but he could tell that her skin was clearly darker than he remembered. He didn't need to bother himself with her, though, he reminded himself. So he dropped his pack onto the ground and got out his bamboo sword for practice. Sasuke practiced as the sounds of the two girls fighting in the background tried its best to distract him. Sasuke refused to let his mind wander, especially not to thoughts of _her_, so he focused on reciting the moves he was using as he practiced.

This worked for the most part, until he heard a loud yelp from the other side of the room, and then a thump. His curiosity getting the best, he looked over to see Hinata flat on her back. Except... it _wasn't_ Hinata. This girl, Sasuke now noticed, had red eyes and glasses. She and Hinata looked very similar, but it clearly wasn't her. Sasuke felt relief at this.

The girl now sat up, and began to laugh. "You got me again," she told her companion, as they outstretched their hand to help her up. She even sounded a little like Hinata.

"Yeah, well you need to watch your feet better." The other girl, now laughing as well, said as she pulled not-Hinata up.

"It-it's not my fault you fight- oh," the girl said, locking eyes with Sasuke mid sentence, who looked away. "S-Sasuke, I didn't realize you and Orochimaru had a-arrived already." The other girl turned to face him, and Sasuke now saw that her eyes were a pale purple.

"Hinata?" the pieces of a story Sasuke did not want to know were coming into place.

"Oh, um, y-yeah." Hinata muttered, her cheeks now turning slightly pink. "I-I guess I'm a bit harder to recognize now that my eyes are uh..." her voice drifted off, but she made a side-glance to the girl next to her. "Oh! Th-this is Karin."

Karin held out one of her hands for Sasuke to shake while the other was occupied twisting a strand of her hair. "Hi," she smiled at him.

"Well, I-I should probably go." Hinata muttered, her eyes (though they weren't really _her_ eyes were they?) staring determinedly at her own feet. "Are y-you going to come with me, Karin?"

"No, I'll be fine right here." She said, staring straight at Sasuke with Hinata's eyes.

"I'll s-see you la-"

"Wait." Sasuke interrupted Hinata, as she was already half way to the door, "I want a rematch."

"Oh," Hinata did not look up at him, he could see her cheeks turn red. "T-tomorrow," she squeaked, then quickly turned and was out the door before Sasuke could stop her.

"I could spar with you if you wanted." Karin offered, a seductive tone in her voice that Sasuke did not pick up on.

* * *

Hinata was having trouble sleeping, again.

It had been like this ever since she had woken up to discover what Kabuto had done to her and Karin. The violation had planted worry in her heart and it was growing. When she decided to do this she had not been worried about her own personal safety. It wasn't that she didn't realize that it would be in danger it was that she was willing to take the risk. But now she was faced with the reality that she was afraid. She didn't want to become one of Kabuto's experiments to be carved up and thrown into a cell like at the north base. She didn't want her eyes to be Kabuto's playthings. She didn't want to die.

Especially not for Sasuke.

It was at times like these that she tried to remember Naruto, his courage, his perseverance, his smile. But now all she could remember was his disheartened face when he had failed to bring Sasuke back. She had been so stupid, letting herself depend on him for strength. He was only human, just like her.

Nothing about that thought comforted her. Inhaling deeply, Hinata tried to keep her eyes dry. She released her breath, then inhaled again. After a few minutes of this, Hinata was confident that her eyes were going to stay dry. Deciding that sleep wasn't going to come, Hinata put on Karin's glasses, got up, and left the room.

It was nights like this that Hinata ended up on the roof. The area around the compound was a forest that almost reminded her of the one in Kohona. The skies were almost always clear, and watching the stars gave Hinata a sense of unimportance that relaxed her.

Walking past an intersection of hallway, Hinata saw Sasuke walking facing away from her. She hurried past, hoping he didn't notice her. Fortunately he didn't seem to have noticed, or, if he had, cared, so Hinata kept on with her journey.

When she reached the roof, she took a deep breath of the fresh air. The freedom to go outside of the compound wasn't much, but Hinata was grateful for it. The compound's air was musty, sometimes Hinata thought it tasted like death.

Sitting down on the ledge, Hinata looked up at the sky and admired its blanket of bright stars protecting her from her own doubts. Hinata took a deep breath and activated her byakugan. Her sight was so limited now, she no longer had the 359 degree vision her own eyes gave her, and she couldn't see chakara anymore. Looking over the forest she could only see through the trees to focus on other objects but not if they were too far away. Her own eyes had given her the ability to see things that were miles away, but with her new eyes she could only see out a few hundred feet.

Hinata took off Karin's glasses and wiped her misty eyes with her sleeve. Having normal vision felt so constricting, it was bad enough she was stuck in this place. She had thought about escaping and returning to kohona, but with the way she left she couldn't come back without something to show for it, and that was Sasuke.

"Hey."

* * *

Sasuke watched as Hinata sighed and put her glasses back on. She seemed irritated that he was there.

"I-I said t-tomorrow." She continued to look over the forest as she said this.

"I'm not here to fight, I want to talk to you." Sasuke sat down next to her. He had had many questions for her on his mind as he followed her onto the roof, but now that he was facing her he could only think of the one.

"Are you okay?"

Hinata continued to avoid his gaze, her face turned away from him. After a long pause she muttered "I'm fine."

"What happened to your-" Sasuke found himself unable to finish the sentence. Hinata seemed to understand anyway, she grew smaller as she withdrew towards her knees. Sasuke thought he heard her mumble something, but he didn't know what.

Part of Sasuke tried to remind himself that he didn't care about her, but he now had to accept that he did. Like it or not, he cared about Hinata. But he didn't know her, he didn't know what she was after by being here. She could very well be here to become powerful enough to do the same thing _he_ did. After she had kissed him he had wondered if she was here just to be with him, but all of her actions other than the ones of that night seemed to say otherwise.

They sat next to each other in silence for a while, Hinata looking out at the forest and Sasuke looking at Hinata. Even though she had refused to answer last time, Sasuke decided to ask her about her plans again.

"Are you going to try to kill the Hyuuga clan?"

Hinata seemed to take this question by surprise, for the first time since he had joined her on the roof she looked at him. She paused for a second before answering.

"No." Sasuke felt a wave of relief pass through his body, "Is th-that why you wanted to know m-my plans before? You th-thought I was going to do the same thing y-your brother did?"

Sasuke nodded, "So what are you planning to do to them?"

For the first time, for a fleeting moment, Sasuke saw Hinata smile. "I'm going to become strong enough to assert my independence from the clan and then leave them."

"Why did you come here to do that?"

"They-they wouldn't let me ex-explore other ways to fight with the byakugan." Hinata leaned back and looked up at the stars, "We only use gentle fist which I'm n-not good at. B-but because of tr-tradition I wasn't allowed to find a technique that worked for me. Here I'm fr-free to try new things."

"So was it worth it?" Sasuke asked motioning at his eyes. He immediately realized it was a mistake to ask. Hinata's eyes began to fill with tears, she removed her glasses and wiped her face with her sleeve. "You don't have to answer that." Sasuke sympathetically spat out. But to his dismay Hinata began to sob.

"It wasn't!" Hinata cried out between sobs. "Nothing is w-worth _this_!" Her face flooded with tears and snot began to run from her nose. "I was so st-stupid to have d-done this! And now I c-can't go home!"

She continued to sob for a few minutes while Sasuke sat next to her in awkward silence. He had no idea how to deal with the weeping girl next to him, and so he simply hoped that his lack of action didn't make things worse. As the minutes passes Hinata's sobs became drier and smaller, and soon enough they stopped. Hinata wiped her eyes one last time and put her glasses back on.

"I-I should g-go." Hinata muttered, standing up. As she began to walk away Sasuke realized it was probably rude not to say anything.

"Hinata." Sasuke said, she stopped and turned back to him, "I'm sorry. I mean about your... everything."

Hinata gave Sasuke a soft smile that, now he had a chance to get a good look at, he thought felt very familiar, "Thanks," she muttered. With that she left, leaving Sasuke alone to contemplate on the familiarity of her smile.

He sat there for a while, hearing the trees rustling in the breeze, looking up at the clear star riddled sky, thinking of the smile Hinata had given him. It wasn't until he looked at the full moon that it finally hit him.

She smiled the same way Itachi did.

* * *

**Wow it's been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry about that, this chapter was not the most exciting for me to write and so I kinda put it off, and then I got a job that I am now working full time so that was getting in the way of me finishing this as well. Fortunately I just bought my first iphone and now I can spend my time on the bus writing so that helps. I'd say I'll have the next chapter out in a week or so, but honestly I don't know and I don't want to make promises I can't keep. If you liked the chapter a review would be appreciated, thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a full day since Naruto had returned to the village and Sakura still couldn't quite get over the feeling of disbelief that nagged her. Even after the whole night they had spent fighting Kakashi for the bells it was still amazing to her that he was actually back. It had been so long since she had seen either of her former teammates, and so much had happened in the time in between. She wondered how to break the news to him. After all, he didn't know.

Kakashi had just left, escaping from having to treat her and Naruto to lunch. Naruto looked over at Sakura with a sheepish grin, "So the two of us are on our own now, so I guess it's a da-"

"If that means it'll be your treat." Sakura interrupted. Naruto glumly took out his frog coin purse, _oh my god he still uses that?_, and examined the contents. Sakura decided that this was sad to watch and looked away. Two familiar faces caught her eye. "Shikamaru! Temari!" Sakura called out to them, waving her hand in the air so they could see her, "Look who it is!"

"If it isn't Naruto!" Shikamaru exclaimed as he and Temari walked over to the two.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted!

"Did you just get back then?"

"No, I got back yesterday."

"So has any of your idiocy left you? Have you grown up at all?" Naruto frowned at Shikamaru's question.

Sakura smiled and waved her hand in dismissal. "No, he hasn't changed at all." she teased.

"Sakuraaaaaaaa," Naruto groaned. He then leaned in towards Shikamaru, said "So, are you on a date too?" He gave Shikamaru a sly smirk.

"Huh? No." Shikamaru said, "Temari and I just got out of a meeting for planning the next Chuunin exam and happen to be heading the same way. I'm meeting up with Ino and Choji for lunch, and Temari-"

"And I'm heading back to my hotel." Temari scoffed. "Honestly why would you think I'd go out with such a..." she didn't finish her sentence, which Sakura figured was because there were too many insulting terms that could be used for Shikamaru and Temari couldn't decide on a good one. "Well if you guys are going to pall around and catch up, I'm going to go ahead and leave. Bye."

"So hows team ten been?" Naruto asked as Temari walked away.

"Well they just got back from a mission without me because I was busy with exam prep."

"Oh, that's cool, what about team eight?"

Sakura and Shikamaru exchanged glances, "You haven't told him yet, Sakura?"

"Told me what?"

"Oh, well, uhhh..." Sakura wasn't sure how to break the news, "I'm, uh, on team eight now."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well because after you and Sasuke left I didn't have a team to be on, and team eight had an opening because Hinata... Well, Hinata..."

"Hinata what!?" Naruto asked panicky.

"Hinata killed herself." Shikamaru told him, "A short while after you left the village."

Sakura watched as Naruto's expression fell, he crouched down and covered his head with his hands. "She... she wouldn't do something like that." Naruto was shaking, "She was stronger than that! There's no way she killed herself!" Naruto abruptly stood up, facing Sakura, he was angry, Sakura saw his eyes flash red.

"Naruto, calm down." Shikamaru told him, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder and pulling him back.

"But, but... why would she do something like that?" Naruto's expression fell.

"She said in her note that she couldn't continue to be a ninja because of the injuries she sustained during the chunin exams." Shikamaru told him, loosening his grip on Naruto's shoulder, "And if she couldn't be a ninja there was no point in going on."

Naruto looked down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with either Sakura or Shikamaru. "So... uh, where is she buried?"

Sakura put a comforting hand on Naruto's back, "I'll take you, we'll visit her together."

* * *

The walk to Hinata's grave was unbearably silent. Sakura walked a few feet ahead of Naruto, who was so quiet that Sakura looked over her shoulder quite a few times making sure he was still there. Sakura wondered that was going through Naruto's head as he somberly trailed behind.

Hinata's grave was in the section of the graveyard reserved for Hyuuga members who hadn't died in combat. When Hinata died word was that the Hyuuga elders had wanted to posthumously disown Hinata from the clan as her suicide was considered a shame to the family. Supposedly, however, her father, the head of the clan, had taken her death very hard and wouldn't allow it. But the contempt of the clan elders reflected in Hinata's headstone. While the other graves in the Hyuuga section were large and well kept Hinata's was small and shabby, secluded from the other graves in a corner of the plot, weeds encroaching on her headstone.

They stood in front of the grave in silence for a long time. Sakura stole glances at Naruto every once in a while. His expression was pained and it reminded Sakura of how he looked after Sasuke left. Looking at Naruto was like finding out Hinata had killed herself all over again.

"What if I hadn't cheered her on?"

The sudden break of silence startled Sakura, she turned to Naruto, "What?"

"During the exams, I cheered her on during her fight with Neji. Maybe- maybe if I hadn't cheered her on she- she wouldn't have gotten th-those injuries and-" Naruto choked on his words. His eyes were full of tears, they began to run down his cheeks in a torrential downpour. "-and she wouldn't have wanted t-to kill herself!" Snot was now running down Naruto's nose as he cried. Sakura didn't have any tissues on her, so she pulled a piece of gauze out of her medical pouch and dabbed his face with it.

"Naruto, it's not your fault." Sakura told him as he took the gauze from her and blew his nose on it. "No one could have known how their actions would have led to this." Kiba and Shino had been like this too, Sakura had experienced the brunt of their self blame as Hinata's replacement on team eight. The 'I should have known's and the 'was I not good enough of a friend for her to confide in's it was suffocating to be around. "I-I'm going to go back into town. Want to join me?"

Naruto shook his head, "I want to stay a little bit longer..." His voice was barely above a whisper "... Pay my respects."

"Okay then." Sakura gave Naruto a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she turned to walk away. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you then."

Sakura walked away. She hoped Naruto wouldn't take it as hard as Kiba and Shino did. But as she looked back and saw Naruto crumple to his knees, Sakura knew her hopes were for naught.

* * *

Sasuke and Orochimaru had only just arrived at base when Sasuke had been sent off to join one of the members of the sound in watch. As he made his way through the forest, grumbling about how this task as below him, jumping from tree to tree, he saw one of the sound ninja he was joining this evening. Her blue hair, now so long it was half way down her torso, was pulled back into a low ponytail. A bow and quiver full of arrows was slung across her back and she couched on a branch ahead of him. She was far away, and her back was to him, but there was no doubt it was Hinata.

"It's been quite a while, Sasuke." Hinata did not turn to greet Sasuke, but instead continued to stay crouched in her perch. Her tone was cold, which had become the norm for her after a period of eight months where Sasuke had not seen her. Sasuke landed on the branch of a nearby tree facing her. Taking a good look at her face for the first time since he had last seen her over a month ago, Sasuke saw that her eyes were a light lilac, her original eyes.

"So you got your eyes back, huh?" Sasuke asked, more out of not knowing what to say to her than curiosity. Even with the veins sprouting from her eyes she was a beautiful sight to see. He could watch her for hours if he ever got the chance to.

"F-for now, yeah." It was strange to hear her stutter nowadays, it seemed so cute of her.

"Does it hurt?" Sasuke asked her, "changing your eyes?"

Hinata did not answer, instead she drew an arrow and placed it in her bow, "We have company."

Sasuke followed suit and withdrew his sword "Where?"

"Two groups of two, one three hundred feet southeast, the other four hundred and fifty feet southwest." She stood up, "I'll head southeast, when you're done head back here and I'll meet up with you when I'm done."

"Alright." Sasuke and Hinata went their separate ways, Sasuke looked over at Hinata as she jumped through the trees away from him. More and more trees got in between them as they went, until the foliage became too thick and Hinata disappeared from view.

Sasuke focused his attention to the task at hand. Hinata had her byakugan leading the way, but Sasuke had to find out where his targets were before they found him. He slowed down as he approached his target's area. He now jumped from tree to tree trying to make as little noise as possible. Sasuke came upon a clearing and saw a half set up camp. _Well here's where they're staying but where are the people?_

As if on queue, two men jumped out from above Sasuke and tried to ambush him. Having caught Sasuke off guard, they almost succeeded. But Sasuke managed to dodge the first man's attack, and spun around just in time to cut off the other man's hand.

As the man fell, clutching his stump, his companion got a hit in, sending Sasuke flying into a clearing. The man leaped into the clearing after him, but before he could attack Sasuke again, Sasuke swung at him with his sword from the ground, giving him a deep cut in his thigh. The man fell forward into the ground, and Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off.

"I got mine." Sasuke looked up to see Hinata standing on the branch of a nearby tree, slightly less composed than she had been before, and with faint blood spatter on her cheek. "And I took care of the guy you left alive back there."

"You didn't need to do that."

"I wouldn't have to if you just did it yourself."

Sasuke frowned, this was a subject he was sick of discussing with others. He shouldn't have to explain why he didn't want to kill. He had no interest in killing anyone other than Itachi, as he had already told Hinata. Yet here she was giving him grief for it.

"Let's go back and report this." Sasuke ordered in an attempt to drop the subject. It didn't look like Hinata took that well because her brow furrowed.

"Not until you-" Hinata stopped mid-sentence, and Sasuke knew why, he had heard it too. The man next to him had turned over, and getting a good look at him now Sasuke saw that his eyes were the same pale lilac as Hinata's, and they were looking straight at her.

"Hinata," he spoke again, more clearly now, "You're... You're alive." the man had an immense look of relief on his face.

Sasuke glanced back up to Hinata, she wasn't looking at the man but instead she was staring straight at _him_. Their eyes locked, and unblinking, Hinata pulled an arrow from her quiver and shot the man. Sasuke was the one to break eye contact as he turned to watch the man die. But he was already dead, Hinata's arrow was planted deep in his chest, Sasuke assumed in his heart.

"Come on," Hinata said, her voice colder than usual, "We need to report this to base." She jumped down to the ground and began to walk away. Sasuke followed.

"What did he mean 'you're alive'?"

"I faked my death." Hinata told him as she kept a brisk pace in front of him, "When you left the village three people almost died trying to get you back, I didn't want that." Sasuke scowled at this dig at him, "and anyway," she continued, "if my family knew I was alive they would stop at nothing to bring me back."

"Hn." Sasuke replied, unsure of what to actually say. Hinata clearly took this as the end of the conversation because she didn't say anything more.

For the next few minutes they walked in silence. Sasuke became acutely aware of the noises in the area surrounding him. The rustle of the leaves in the trees above them, the chirps of the birds passing by, each and every footstep he and Hinata made. Eventually he became focused on the sounds Hinata was making, it was faint, but it almost sounded like she was letting out small sobs.

"You okay?" Sasuke sheepishly asked.

"I'm fine." She answered, but Sasuke could hear a distinct crack in her voice.

* * *

Hinata lay curled up in her bed for what was probably the fifth hour in a row. She had killed a member of her family, she had missed her best chance of getting home. If only she had known that a Kohona ninja was there with the Suna group she would be heading home right now with a subdued Sasuke in tow.

But instead by the time she found out, the three Suna ninja were dead and her clan member was injured in such a way that he would have been more of a hindrance than help. And if she had left him alive... well, Kabuto wasn't pleased to have a new cadaver instead of a live test subject.

It was times like these that Hinata tried to remember Naruto. But it was hard to remember his face. Oh she could remember the basic features, blue eyes, blonde hair, those lines on his cheeks. But every time she put them together there was something missing, something distorted, something in this image of Naruto that wasn't Naruto.

Hinata let out an involuntary dry sob. She had been crying for so long now that she was too dehydrated to produce tears. She knew that laying here and ruminating on this wouldn't improve her mood, but she couldn't bring herself to get up. So she lay there. Becoming hyper aware of herself and her surroundings. She felt every fiber of the sheets she lay on, she knew the smoothness of her now dry cheeks. She acutely heard every breath she took, the slight ruffling of her sheets, the footsteps outside her room.

And then the knock on the door.

It was because Hinata knew exactly who it was that she did not want to go and answer the door. She didn't need to activate her byakugan to know, it was simply fact that he was going to be here, though neither of them had discussed it. If she just continued to lay motionless in her bed would he go away? Another knock on the door answered for Hinata. So she slunk out of her bed and answered the door.

"Hey." Sasuke mumbled to her as she opened the door. His hand were in his pockets and he was looking off to his side. This and his slouched posture emitted an attempted aloofness towards Hinata that was betrayed by the pink tinge on Sasuke's cheeks.

"Let's go." Hinata said, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. Sasuke nodded and led the way.

* * *

Sasuke was always excited for this. It had unintentionally become a tradition for Hinata and Sasuke to have a fist-fight every time they were at the same base. Hinata won a lot at first, though Sasuke still considered her first win to be a fluke. She had had more experience in fighting with only her hands, whereas Sasuke always had paired his physical skill with weapons and jutsu. With practice though he was improving. He was glad Hinata was so useful to him, if it hadn't been for her he would have never known about his weakness in this area. And when it came to fighting Itachi, weaknesses could easily mean failure.

Hinata stood across from him on the grassy field. Her dark hair, pulled back in a pony tail, swayed slightly in the summer breeze. Her skin was illuminated by the light of the half-moon. Her eyes reflected the light like a cat's would, making them glow in a way that Sasuke found both intimidating and entrancing.

"Well are you ready or what?" Hinata asked, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts. Sasuke got into position.

"Ready." He and Hinata rushed at each other. Sasuke was the first to throw a punch, Hinata side stepped it and swung out her leg with a kick.

Sasuke took the hit and lost his balance. Hinata came in with another kick and Sasuke fell onto the grassy ground. Needing to act before Hinata could strike again, Sasuke kicked Hinata's legs out from under her, and she fell onto her back with a yelp. Sasuke pounced and pinned Hinata down. Sitting on top of her, Sasuke tightly gripped her arms, keeping her from moving them.

Hinata squirmed for a few seconds, but to no success, and became limp.

"I win," Sasuke told her. A smirk was plastered across his face, he had never beat Hinata quite that quickly before.

"Fine." Hinata grumbled.

Sasuke noticed a shortness in her breath. She was panting slightly, and her ch… chest was rising… up… and down.

"Wh-what are you pressing against me?" Hinata stuttered and Sasuke jumped back with horrified shock as he realized exactly what just happened. His face grew hot with embarrassment.

"I'm going to go back to my room now, goodnight!" Sasuke spat out panickedly. He tried to walk away as normally as he could but it was hard in his current predicament. It was an awkward shuffle back to his room, and when he got there he collapsed on his bed, burying his face in the pillow.

This sort of thing had happened to Sasuke many times before while thinking about Hinata. But that had always been when he was alone, in his room, with no one else around. Never had that happened in Hinata's presence! She- she _felt_ it! Sasuke groaned into the pillow. How was he ever supposed to face her again?

Sasuke turned over and stared at the ceiling. Clearly he couldn't spend time with Hinata anymore. She was obviously too much a risk of distraction. He had been focusing too much energy on her anyway, he needed to focus on his goal, on killing _him_. Hinata was a festering wound hindering his progress and she needed to be cut out before she becomes lethal.

But first Sasuke needed to deal with _this_, or else he wouldn't be able to fall asleep.

* * *

The sun had set a few hours ago, but Naruto still sat in front of Hinata's grave. His tears had long since dried, but Naruto could not bring himself to leave her alone. So he stayed there ruminating on his actions and how they might have contributed to her death. He tried to remember everything he could about her. To his regret, Hinata had never been anything but 'that weird quiet girl' until the chunin exams. If he could do it all again he would have tried to be her friend.

Maybe if she had had one more friend in the world she wouldn't have-

Naruto slammed his fist onto the ground. There was so much he could've done and it hurt to think that there was nothing he could do now. So many ways this could have turned out differently, but it was too late for any of it.

"Uhg, I knew it, you _are_ still here."

Naruto turned around to see Shikamaru walking towards him. "What do you want?" Naruto's voice came out a lot more cracked and hoarse than he had realized it would.

"I'm here to check up on you because Sakura said that you were blaming yourself for Hinata's death." Shikamaru groaned, "What a bother, I don't even want to be here."

"Then go." Naruto mumbled. He wasn't particularly interested in whatever Shikamaru had to say.

"Well you've got to come with me. You can't just stay here all night."

Naruto didn't respond, he just continued to stare at Hinata's headstone.

Shikamaru groaned again "How troublesome. What will it take for you to leave here?"

Naruto glowered. Shikamaru wasn't even trying to be sympathetic. Did he even care about Hinata? He had just found out a classmate of his had killed herself and Shikamaru was treating his grief like it was a chore for him to take care of! Naruto shot up and turned to him, "Don't you get it?! It's my fault she's dead, okay!?"

"She's not dead."

"How could you possibly understand how I- what?"

"Hinata's not dead, Naruto."

"What do you mean she's not dead?! Look at where we are!" Naruto gestured his hand to the grave behind him.

"We never found her body." Shikamaru told him, "and she disappeared on a day where she had a big window of time before people realized she was missing it had to be in-" Naruto cut Shikamaru off by punching him square in the jaw causing Shikamaru to topple over.

"That doesn't prove anything!" Naruto yelled. How stupid did Shikamaru think he was? Dumb enough to believe his baseless claim?

Shikamaru sat up, "Just listen to me, okay? My team was one of the ones in charge of finding her after we found her suicide note. The timing and placement of Hinata's suicide are convenient enough that if someone wanted to fake their suicide that's how they'd do it. She led us intentionally to a cliffside over a river where we're supposed to believe that she jumped to her death. But the river is so deep that if her body sank we wouldn't be able to find it, and if she floated away her body would have been well out of national borders by the time we found out she was gone. Either way, we not only couldn't find a body, but had two reasons why we couldn't. I don't think that's coincidental.

"And remember that Hinata's team's strength was tracking. She knows how to avoid being tracked and how to lead on a tracker into going a different way. Which is what she did when she faked her death. She left her jacket and headband at the place where she supposedly killed herself. She _wanted_ us to find it, but she didn't want us to find _her_."

"That's not evidence," Naruto told him, "That's just a bunch of coincidental facts."

"Naruto, you saw how she fought Neji in the Chunin exams. Do you really think the girl who got back up and kept fighting even when she knew she couldn't win would have killed herself? You said it yourself, she's stronger than that."

Naruto stood in silence for a moment thinking this over. "Why would she have faked her death? What reason would she possibly have to do that?"

Shikamaru shrugged and stood up, "I don't know. I figured she had a good reason to do something as extreme as this. Which is why I haven't told anyone else about this, and you shouldn't either, Naruto."

"Yeah, I won't tell anyone your dumbass theory, Shikamaru." Naruto walked away from him, "Goodnight." As he headed home he thought to himself about how stupid what Shikamaru told him was. But in his heart there was a small glimmer of hope. Without even realizing it, a smile spread across his face.

* * *

**It's been four months. I'm sorry. Not only is this my longest chapter so far, but since I last updated I've moved into my first apartment in a new city, I'm in college now and I have one class that's 16 hours a week, and my jobs that's supposed to be 20 hours a week, but my schedule keeps getting messed up, for instance I'm only working four hours this week, which is why I was able to finally freaking finish this. **

**On the plus, I have the next six chapters planned out, and next chapter is gonna be short, so I'll at the very least get around to updating again before 2015.**

**If you enjoyed this chapter, a review would be greatly appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

A few droplets of water drizzled onto Hinata's nose. With a small shiver she readjusted the hood of her cloak, causing some of the water that it had unintentionally collected to pour off. The rain didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon. The sound of it drowned out all other ambient noise other than the splash of footsteps as she and the others walked through the puddles and mud.

It surprised Hinata they they were going to a new base so soon after arriving at their previous one. But from what she had gathered there was something happening at the new base. It didn't matter to her what was happening there, but having to travel provided Hinata with a chance to escape, and she would not squander it like she had last time.

In her pocket was a syringe filled with a sedative strong enough to keep the user unconscious for about a week. If she had the chance to, all she needed to do was attach the needle and stab Sasuke with it. With both Orochimaru and Kabuto present to try and stop her if she made a move to escape, this was a very risky course of action. But with only a few months until Orochimaru was able to perform the jutsu that would allow him to take over Sasuke's body, Hinata's window of opportunity was closing. If she had to, Hinata would sacrifice herself in an attempt to escape if it meant she was able to get Sasuke out of Orochimaru's clutches.

Hinata kept her byakugan activated in hopes of finding ally ninja near enough that she could try and escape with their help, but there were no people within many miles of their group. Hinata sighed and looked up at Sasuke as he walked a few feet in front of her. Sasuke wasn't talking to her again. This wasn't anything new, it seemed to Hinata that Sasuke couldn't decide if he hated her or not, so his attitude towards her was inconsistent. Soon enough he'd decide that he liked her again and act friendly towards her. Hinata wondered if he had been like this with Naruto and Sakura, and if he did, why on earth they cared for Sasuke so much.

* * *

It wasn't until later that day that the rain let up. They stopped next to a lake to build up camp. One larger tent that she, Kabuto and Sasuke would share and one smaller one that Orochimaru would sleep in. Hinata's sleeping bag was on the far right of the tent, Sasuke's was in the middle, in between Kabuto and herself. Kabuto took first watch as she and Sasuke settled into their sleeping bags. Hinata had no intention to sleep tonight, she needed to stay alert. She laid down in her sleeping bag and covered her face so that no one could see that her byakugan was still activated. Hinata noticed that before Sasuke lay down he took a moment to stare at her. She could see his heart beat slightly faster. He grumbled and settled down into his bag facing away from her.

For the next few hours Hinata scanned the area with no luck. Sasuke had fallen asleep a long time ago and Kabuto was still outside their tent keeping guard. Eventually Kabuto came back into the tent and woke Sasuke, who was less than pleased to have to wake up and go stand guard. Hinata was tired, she wished she could sleep, but now was her best opportunity to escape with Sasuke. Orochimaru and Kabuto were asleep, and she wouldn't have to pull Sasuke out of the tent which would risk waking Kabuto. But she needed there to be ally ninja nearby for her to take action. Hinata couldn't carry Sasuke all the way back to Kohona, she simply wasn't strong enough. She regretted never getting a summons as she watched Sasuke sit on the lake's bank, sharpening his sword. What she wouldn't give to be able to summon a large snake like Orochimaru and Sasuke could right now.

As the hours passed Hinata found herself nodding off whenever she stopped paying attention. She now needed to pay attention to her own state of consciousness or she would fall asleep. It looked like Sasuke was having trouble staying awake, too. Every few minutes his head would fall into a nod and then spring back up. A thought crept up onto Hinata as she watched him.

**You could just kill him, you know.**

_No,_ Hinata thought to herself, _I can't do that, I need to bring him back to Kohona, back to Naruto!_

**But will you be able to?**

_Y-yes, of course!_

**You don't **_**really**_ **believe that. You've seen what Orochimaru is capable of. You can't let him take over Sasuke's body, you know what he can do, what he **_**will**_ **do. Kill Sasuke now, destroy his eyes and make your escape, nobody in Kohona has to know. **

_I can't, there has to be a better way than this!_

**This is your last chance to get out, take it while you can.**

Hinata spent the next few minutes ruminating on that thought, then sat up and exited the tent. It would be pretty easy to kill him right now, wouldn't it? She could do it, just slit his throat, stab his eyes, and run. This nightmare she had been living could end right now, all she had to do was kill him.

"Oh, Hinata."

Sasuke had turned around and was looking at her from his seat. Their eyes met.

She couldn't do it. "I'm relieving you from guard duty, go back to bed."

"Hn." Sasuke sat up and walked back to the tent. Hinata walked over to the bank of the lake where Sasuke was sitting. Before she could sit down she caught her reflection in the water and saw the tears now streaming down her face. She decided to sit away from the bank by the trees.

* * *

Sasuke was irritated as he sat in the training room of the new base. Orochimaru had promised him that he was going to be taught a new jutsu today, but instead Orochimaru and Kabuto had left on other business. So he waited impatiently for them to return. Sasuke heard the door and looked over to the side of the room where Hinata had just entered.

She looked awful. There were large bags under her eyes, which were now a blue that reminded him of that idiot Naruto. Her skin looked like it had paled with sickness. Her hair was disheveled and shiny with grease. She didn't even bother to acknowledge him as she sat down in a corner about ten feet away from him. Even in her awful state, Sasuke couldn't help but find her beautiful, he didn't understand why, because objectively she looked like a mess and wasn't pretty at all. He decided not to look at her.

After a while Sasuke jumped at the sound of a loud snore. He looked over to find Hinata had fallen asleep. She snored again. So Hinata snored? He'd have never guessed. Her snores were so loud it was a wonder that he was able to sleep through them when he was sleeping next to her during the trip to their current base.

That wasn't right though, was it? If she always snored, he would have heard her while he was awake and keeping watch, wouldn't he've? Did she not sleep at all during the trip here? They had traveled for three days, no wonder she looked like crap. Sasuke watched her as she slept, wondering why it was she had stayed awake. What was her motive? If she wasn't asleep what was she doing? Why would she put so much strain on herself?

As he thought about this, Hinata stopped snoring. This peaked Sasuke's attention, maybe she was waking up? Instead, she muttered in her sleep. Sasuke couldn't make out what she was saying so he moved over next to her to try and hear what she was saying.

"N-Naruto…" she mumbled. She snored again.

Sasuke felt his gut drop. Why would she say Naruto's name in her sleep? Why him of all people? He felt a rush of rage flow over him.

"Hinata," he reached out and shook her "Hinata, wake up!"

Hinata woke, startled, and stared at him with those Naruto-blue eyes, "Wh-what?"

"Fight me."

"Huh?"

Sasuke was losing his patience "I want you to fight me. Fight me, right now!"

"Why?"

"Oh, come on!" Sasuke grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come at me with everything you've got!"

Hinata looked hesitant which only made Sasuke angrier. He activated his sharingan and ran at her. Hinata was quick to react, she dodged him and activated her byakugan.

"What is your problem!?" she yelled at him. Sasuke withdrew a kunai and flung it at her. Hinata wasn't able to dodge it in time and it sliced the upper-left of her arm. He rushed at her and threw a punch, nailing Hinata right in the jaw causing her to fall to the ground.

"Fight me back, damnit!" he yelled, kicking Hinata as she lay on the ground. She let out a yelp like a wounded dog. He had had enough, no more letting this girl distract him from his goals. Hinata made an attempt to stand up, he kicked her again. No more of Hinata invading his empty thoughts. He kicked her again. No more worrying about her, or caring about her, or time wasted admiring her beauty. He was an avenger, and Hinata was an obstacle, one he should've cut ties with long ago. Sasuke activated his chidori.

"That's quite enough of that, Sasuke." Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke's wrist. Sasuke deactivated his chidori. "I leave for a few hours and this is what I come back to? And to think I went to the trouble of bringing you both back a present as well."

Hinata slowly stood up, "A pr-present?" she choked through blood pooling out of her mouth.

"Yes, he's a shinobi from Kohona, just like you two." Orochimaru told them, gesturing to a boy their age at the end of the room next to Kabuto. "I figured you could bathe yourself in nostalgia talking about your old village."

The boy smiled at them. "Greetings, my name is Sai."

* * *

**Man, do I keep my promises or what? I said I'd get a new chapter out before 2015 and here I am, on new years eve, a few hours before midnight, posting the chapter! Most of you have probably figured this out, but for those who haven't, the end of this chapter takes place during chapters 300-301 of the manga (I'm sorry, I don't know the anime equivalent) during the Sasuke and Sai arc, and the next chapter will take place during that time-frame as well. **

**Thank you to PrettyQueen and Doddlehead for the lovely reviews last chapter! If you liked this chapter I would appreciate a review. Have a happy new year! **


	7. Chapter 7

"Greetings, my name is Sai." Sai smiled at them, "You must be Uchiha Sasu-"

"Get lost." Sasuke interrupted, he was annoyed at having been foiled in his attempt to rid himself of Hinata.

Sai continued to smile, though it didn't reach his eyes, and then after a few seconds he said "Even when I force myself to smile it seems I end up being hated anyway. Naruto didn't seem to care for me much either…"

"N-Naruto?" Hinata asked, "How do you know him?"

_Why do you care?_ Sasuke thought to himself irritably.

"I traveled here on a team with him for a mission for Kohona." Sai told her, "How do you know Naruto?"

Sasuke looked over at Hinata and noticed the slightest twitch of her lip which then turned into a down fallen expression he had a slight suspicion was fake.

"It... It doesn't matter." She told him. "If you all don't mind, I am going to excuse myself because I'm getting blood on the floor."

Sasuke couldn't stand for that "I'm not done with you yet!" He yelled at her. He felt a firm hand place on his shoulder and tighten, nails digging into his skin.

"I think you are." Orochimaru scowled. "Hinata you are free to go."

"Thank you sir," Hinata bowed to Orochimaru, she looked over at Sasuke and their eyes met. Sasuke looked away, absolutely livid, and Hinata left the room.

* * *

Hinata winced as she walked down the corridor at a brisk pace. Sasuke had done quite a lot of damage to her ribs when he kicked her, she was pretty sure a few of them were broken. She wasn't concerned about that at the moment, however, she was actually excited. _There are Kohona shinobi nearby_ she thought to herself, suppressing a grin, _and Naruto is among them_.

Hinata was overwhelmed with glee. It was almost over, this nightmare was almost over, she could get out of here alive. All she had to do was steal her eyes back from Kabuto's lab and knock out Sasuke like she had originally planned to. Then it was just a matter of carrying him on her back until she caught up with the Kohona ninja.

She was currently heading towards Kabuto's lab for her eyes. She was sure that Kabuto would be busy with the newest addition to the Sound, so that would buy her some time. Her bigger worry would be finding the eyes. It was a big lab, and even with her byakugan to see through objects there was still a lot of ground to cover.

Hinata was right about the trouble with finding her eyes. It took her about a quarter of an hour to locate them, and another few minutes to pick the lock on the cupboard they were stored in. Hinata was afraid that Kabuto would return before she could them and get out, but to her surprise he didn't, she didn't even see him headed towards the lab as she made her way to her own room. It seemed odd, but Hinata had other things to worry about at the moment.

When she entered her room, Hinata was quick to pack, she only needed the essentials, that was- food and weapons. She slung her bow and quiver over her back and stuffed the pouch on her leg with jerky and other small snacks.

As she left her room she took in a deep breath. Now was the moment of truth, the part where Hinata had to knock out Sasuke and get him out of the compound without being caught. It was do or die. Sasuke's room was only a few hallways over, she just had to get there without being seen-

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion coming from the direction of- Sasuke's room! Hinata broke out into a sprint, trying to ignore the pain as she ran.

* * *

Sai had been a thorn in Sakura's side the entire mission. The lies, the insults, the rude language, the apparent betrayal, then the switch back to their side, and now the actual betrayal. Not to become an informant between the sound and Danzo, but to carry out his true mission to assassinate Sasuke. Sakura ran at Sai from where he stood at the end of the crumbled hallway in the aftermath of the explosion and grabbed him by the collar.

"Sai!" She yelled, "What the hell are you playing at?!"

"Is that you, Sakura?" A familiar voice asked from out of her range of vision.

Sakura looked towards the person talking, knowing full well who it was in her heart, but unwilling to believe it was him until she had laid her eyes on him. It took a moment for her eyes to readjust to the sun, turning the silhouetted figure into-

"Sasuke." Sakura said. It was really him, he was here, standing on the ground above the fortress, looking over at her and Sai. Behind her, Sakura heard Naruto run into the clearing.

"Sasuke…" he said.

Sasuke furrowed his brow "Naruto? So does that mean that Kakashi's here too?"

"Unfortunately Kakashi couldn't be here." Sakura heard Yamato say from behind her, "But I am here in his place. We, Team Kakashi, are here to bring you back to Kohona."

"Team Kakashi, huh?" Sasuke said. Next to her, Sakura noticed Sai lift up his sword.

"Sai!" She shouted, "I knew it!"

"So he's my replacement, is he?" Sasuke said, "He was spouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me. Another weakling for the group, a great fit I'm sure."

_Protecting the bonds?_ "Huh?" Sakura said, looking at Sai.

"It's true my mission was to assassinate Sasuke." Sai told them, his eyes still fixed up at Sasuke. "But those orders don't matter anymore. From now on I want to think and act for myself. Because of Naruto I feel-"

"Sasuke!" A girl's voice interrupted as she ran down the hallway towards them. She barged into the clearing and jumped up to the ledge Sasuke was standing on, "I heard the explosion, are you alright?!" The girl's long, dark blue hair covered her face, and her voice sounded familiar, but no, Sakura thought, it couldn't be...

"I'm fine," Sasuke growled harshly at the girl, "go awa- OUCH!" Sasuke flinched and recoiled from the girl, "What did you just dooooo-" Sasuke collapsed to the ground and without his body in the way, Sakura saw an empty syringe in the girl's hand.

"What the hell?!" Naruto yelled up at the girl as she crouched down to pick Sasuke up over her shoulder, "Who are you!?"

"We have to go, now, Sakura, Naruto." The girl said as she jumped down to the clearing with Sasuke, she winced as she landed though Sakura still could not see her face under her drooping hair. "Orochimaru is probably on his way right now."

"How do you know my name?" Sakura questioned, though she had a sneaking suspicion she knew the answer, as unlikely as it seemed. The girl turned to face her, and even though it was badly bruised, and her eyes were blue, the face unmistakably belonged to-

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, he jumped up to her and pulled her into a somewhat awkward hug due to her holding up Sasuke, "You're alive!"

"W-we've really got to go." Hinata stammered, her face turning pink where it was not purple. "Can you help me carry Sasuke?"

"Sai, can you make a bird big enough for us to all fly on?" Yamato asked Sai, who pulled out a scroll and began to paint in response. Within seconds there was a large calligraphy bird in the clearing. "Everyone, hop on!" Yamato told them. They did, and the bird lifted them into the air, taking them away from the sound compound and towards safety.

Sakura looked over at Hinata, who was still holding Sasuke. "What did you do to him?"

"I sedated him, he should be out for a week." Hinata told her, she looked relieved.

"I can't believe Shikamaru was right!" Naruto exclaimed, giving Hinata a firm pat on the shoulder. She winced again.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"He told me that Hinata didn't really kill herself and that she was probably trying to do something important. I thought he was just trying to cheer me up!" He looked over at Hinata "You faked your suicide so you could infiltrate the sound?" He asked her.

Hinata nodded "I was trying to bring Sasuke back." She shifted her sitting position and winced in pain.

"How did you get all these injuries, Hinata?" Naruto asked. Sakura noticed Hinata very quickly, but distinctly, glance at Sasuke.

"O-oh, it was just from training." Hinata told them, giving what Sakura thought was a very Sai-like smile. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"And what about your-"

"Naruto, don't badger Hinata," Sakura interrupted in a purposefully loud tone, almost certain he was about to say 'eyes'. "She looks tired, let her rest."

"Oh, thank you." Hinata mumbled, her cheeks once again flushing pink. "I haven't slept in a few days actually."

"Well you should take a nap then." Sakura told her, "Naruto, hold onto Sasuke, Hinata, you can lean on me and rest."

"O-okay." Hinata placed her head on Sakura's shoulder and Sakura wrapped an arm around her to keep her steady. Within a few minutes Hinata fell asleep and began to snore.

* * *

The sun had begun to set by the time they landed and set up camp in another of the houses Yamato constructed with his wood jutsu. Sakura gently woke Hinata up, and Hinata asked her in a groggy voice how long she had been out. Sai was completely exhausted from having to keep a ink figure that big in flight for that long and went to sleep right after eating dinner. Naruto kept an eye on Sasuke, who was still passed out as Hinata said he would be.

Sakura and Hinata were given a room to share. Sakura was glad of this, thinking that without Naruto and the others around Hinata would be more open to questions. _It's not something I can just jump into_, Sakura told herself, _I can't just ask with no pretense or-_

"So how are Kiba and Shino?" Hinata asked, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

"They're good." Sakura answered, "I was actually your replacement on team 8, buuuut... they took your death..." Terribly, devastatingly, emphatically bad, "... _Poorly_."

Sakura noticed Hinata's expression change ever so slightly. She looked regretful. "Yeah, I suppose they would've, huh." Hinata muttered in a hoarse whisper clearly more to herself than to Sakura.

"Oh, but they've been really good otherwise!" Sakura tried to assure her, "You should see how big Akamaru's gotten! Kiba can ride on him now!" The edges of Hinata's lips curled up ever so slightly. Reassured, Sakura continued, "and Shino is still... as Shino as ever!" Hinata chuckled at this, which quickly turned into a harsh cough and a grimace of pain. She kept coughing and Sakura reached over and held onto Hinata's shoulder with one hand and patted her back gently with the other. Bloody spit dribbled from Hinata's mouth as her coughing ceased.

"I'm... I'm okay," Hinata tried to convince Sakura while wiping away the blood.

"No, you're not." Sakura told her, her hand still firmly on Hinata's shoulder "Please... could you show me the damage?" she asked gingerly.

Hinata sighed and hesitantly lifted up her shirt, revealing fresh bruises across her belly. Sakura could see the imprint of a shoe in one of them. She slid a gentle hand over the areas that were bruised, Hinata let out a small noise of discomfort, and could feel broken ribs. "Hinata, I'm going to need you to lie down." Sakura told her. Hinata nodded and lay on her back. Healing broken ribs without any medical resources other than her jutsus wasn't an easy task, as Sakura finished up she told Hinata "I've managed to set your ribs back in place, but it's only really a patch-up job without any medical equipment. You'll have to go to the hospital when we return for complete care."

Hinata sat up "I didn't know you knew medical jutsus."

"Oh, yeah, I started training with Tsunade shorty after Sasuke left the village." Sakura told her.

Hinata reached into the pouch on the side of her leg and pulled out a small glass cylinder. Sakura stared at it, it was filled with a thick, translucent liquid, but she could see floating inside it was two eyes.

Hinata's eyes.

"D-do you think you could-"

"-Oh!, Um, yeah, of course!" Sakura interrupted, trying not to make it obvious she was shocked by Hinata's eyes being in a jar. She took the jar, and then took a deep breath. _I can't let my emotions get in the way of my healing right now_, she thought to herself. Sakura had Hinata lay down again, and then with another deep breath, she began.

* * *

It took less than half an hour for Sakura to replace Hinata's eyes. For such a delicate area it was a pretty simple procedure. What bothered Sakura though was that upon removing the eyes Hinata had in, she noticed a lot of scar tissue in Hinata's eye sockets with varying levels of healings. Sakura didn't want to ask to confirm her suspicions, in case it was a sensitive subject, but if she were to guess, Hinata had had eyes removed and replaced multiple times.

Hinata sat up and activated her byakugan, she turned her head a bit to each side, and seeming satisfied, deactivated it.

"Thank you, Sakura." she said.

"I was no problem, Hinata." Sakura answered, she reached in to place her hand on Hinata's shoulder again, but paused with the sudden worry that it might be too intrusive. She placed her hand back in her lap with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Sakura, I was wondering…" Hinata looked Sakura in the eyes, "Could you… not tell anyone about my eyes? Especially Kiba and Shino? I… I don't want them to worry."

_It's a bit late for worrying_, Sakura thought to herself, "Of course I won't, Hinata."

Hinata smiled, "Thank you, Sakura. I'm going to go to bed now, goodnight."

Sakura smiled back, though she felt rather forced, "Goodnight."

* * *

"Akamaru, catch!" Kiba yelled, throwing a frisbee high into the air. Akamaru ran after it, jumping up many nearby trees until he was high enough to catch it in the air. "Good boy!" Kiba encouraged as Akamaru bounded back. It had been over a week since Sakura had left on her mission with her old team, Kiba and Shino had left for a mission around the same time too with Kurenai, but they had finished it and returned two days ago. Shino looked a bit like he was sulking as he collected bugs.

"Shino, are you _still_ miffed that you couldn't go in the mission with Sakura and Naruto?" Kiba asked as he pulled the slobbery frisbee from Akamaru's mouth and threw it again.

"It's just that I was left out of the last mission to retrieve Sasuke too." Shino told Kiba, for what was long past the first time, "And I would have been much better on the mission than Sai. Why? Because I have experience working with Sakura, and Naruto knows me."

"Not well enough, apparently, I can't believe he didn't recognize you." Akamaru was rushing back with the frisbee again. "And anyway, they're just on a information gathering mission. There's no way they're gonna come back with Sasuke."

Shino let out an incomprehensible grumble and gently picked up a beetle that he had been eyeing. If Kiba were to guess, Shino was probably thinking that if _he_ was on the mission they'd be returning with Sasuke.

Akamaru dropped the frisbee at Kiba's feet and whined. It was the sort of whine Akamaru would make when he was excited to go on a walk and Kiba was taking to long, which confused Kiba because they were already outside. "What is it, Akamaru?" he asked. Akamaru whined again and turned away from Kiba, he looked like he wanted to go somewhere, but wouldn't leave without Kiba.

Kiba wondered what was going on when he smelled it. It was an oh so familiar scent he hadn't smelt in a long time. It wafted to him and it reminded him of home, of comfort. _It can't be_, he thought to himself, _there's no way_.

"What is it, Kiba?" Shino asked.

"Follow me!" Kiba told him, running off towards the scent's source with Akamaru leading, now excitedly barking.

"What's going on?" Shino questioned as he followed.

Kiba felt his eyes well up with tears, he wasn't sure it was was he thought it was, _who_ he thought it was, but the hope was too much to bear. "You'll know when I do." He told Shino, wiping a tear from his cheeks as he ran.

* * *

It was a sunny but brisk morning. Hinata noticed some frost in the shadows of the trees as she and the others walked in wavering silence. The previous morning, Hinata had used a jutsu to make her eyes look like the ones that she had had before, and then made a show of "remembering" she was using the jutsu and breaking it, making the others none the wiser to the fact that she really had had her eyes removed. Hinata had the feeling that Sakura hadn't approved of this, but she didn't tell the others about it either, so Hinata was optimistic that Sakura wouldn't betray her trust.

Sasuke was still out. Naruto was carrying him gently on his back as they walked. He was happy, everything had worked out well for him, it seemed. He was getting Sasuke back, and apparently her as well. It hadn't really occurred to Hinata that her supposed death would have an impact on others, that they would miss her. Sakura had told her that Naruto only found out about her death a week and a half prior, and had been crushed about it. But now he was cheery as could be. For Hinata, it was mission accomplished.

So why did she still feel so miserable?

Naruto's smile had always been something she depended on for strength, for encouragement. _If he can smile, I can too!_ Now, it just made her stomach turn with a wave of regret.

_I went through all that for __**this**__?_

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a dog barking in the distance. Everyone took notice.

"Everyone keep your guard up," Yamato commanded, bringing his hands together in preparation to use jutsu.

Hinata activated her byakugan, but what she saw wasn't a threat, but three figures running through the trees towards them in the distance, three very familiar figures. She deactivated it as Akamaru, Kiba, and Shino popped out onto the path ahead of them in plain view. Kiba looked over at them, his face filled with tears.

"HINATA!" He yelled, rushing towards her.

Hinata felt her eyes become wet and her vision began to blur, "K-Kiba! Shino!" She began to run towards them.

"Hinata!?" Shino yelled. He ran towards her too.

Hinata and Kiba met each other in the middle of the path first, Kiba wrapping Hinata up in a tight hug. Snot was running out of his nose and his cheeks were moist with tears. Hinata felt Shino's arms wrap around her as well. Akamaru's nose tickled at her legs.

"You're alive!" Shino said in a cracking voice on the verge of tears.

"I… I'm sorry!" Hinata sobbed, blinking away tears. Kiba and Shino were so much taller than her now, she felt protected in their arms. She hadn't felt safe in a long time. "I'm… I'm home... I'm home."

* * *

**Sorry it's been so long since my last update. The first thing that made this chapter take so long was that after I published the last chapter of this, I started another fanfic called "Between Two Wars" which, if you like Harry Potter/Naruto crossovers and platonic Sasuhina interactions, you should check out. Especially since I'm going to update that next. The other reason this took me so long was just that this was a hard chapter to write, especially since, as you might've noticed, some of the scenes are based in canon and that can be tedious to write.**

**Thank you guys for your patience, and as always reviews are appreciated!**


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